AIPAC divisions more pronounced than ever

For American Jews, soul-searching about both Israel and AIPAC are as dependable as a trip to the movies on Christmas.

That’s become more pronounced as President Barack Obama pushes forward on both an Israeli-Palestinian peace process framework and negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program. But now there’s an active effort among more liberal groups to show that the changing politics in the American Jewish community mean that AIPAC’s positions represent fewer and fewer people, and should be getting less and less attention.

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Though American Jews strongly supported Obama in both the 2008 and 2012 elections, he’s never fully settled anxieties about not being a close or devoted enough friend of the Jewish State, and he’s rarely seen eye-to-eye with the political group that’s long been the strongest, loudest voice on these issues.

Obama, notably, won’t be addressing the AIPAC annual conference that starts Sunday and runs through the beginning of the week. Neither will Vice President Joe Biden. The administration is sending Secretary of State John Kerry instead — the point man on both these issues. ()

“This is a time where there are lot of things converging, and there’s a lot of uncertainty, there are a lot of questions,” said Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), the ranking member of the House Foreign Relations Committee, who’ll be attending the AIPAC conference for his 27th straight year and remains a strong supporter. “There’s a bit of angst in the American Jewish community, because these are very important issues and the administration’s right in the thick of it with them.”

Among groups that support the administration’s approaches, the hope is to smash the narrative that by talking about an Israeli-Palestinian compromise and negotiating with Iran, Obama’s working against Israel’s interests. Petitions are circulating. Town halls are being held. More campaign donations are being promised and made to those who support the president. And a coalition of liberal groups has formed that’s been in regular touch with the White House to keep them aware of the support.

The clearest place that’s begun to manifest itself is the split between AIPAC and J Street, the left-wing alternative founded six years ago. Though they’ve always disagreed ideologically, recent moves in Congress have put them in direct opposition for the first time.

All of this is happening with a clearly shifting backdrop, including the just 17 percent of American Jews who said in a Pew poll last October that they believe expanded West Bank settlements help Israel’s security, and a letter released Thursday by a group of 82 mostly Jewish donors urging Congress again not to pass new sanctions against Iran.

“What we’re saying is that the direction the president and the secretary are pursuing is eminently pro-Israel and this is what friendship for Israel really looks like,” said J Street president and founder Jeremy Ben-Ami. “To promote the end of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict secures Israel’s future and to achieve the goal of preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon—these are the acts of a friend, this is what pro-Israel should be defined to be.”

An AIPAC spokesman did not return requests for comment about the group’s standing, or its relationship to J Street.